Exotic animals are gaining more and more popularity, and therefore the issue of the choice of food objects for them is acute. Two-spotted cricket is one of the most common and popular fodder crops. Crickets can be a useful and balanced food for birds, different types of lizards and tarantulas. Unfortunately, they can not always be purchased at pet stores, and therefore consider the basic rules for keeping and breeding two-spotted crickets at home.
General information
Two-spotted crickets are one of the most popular feed crops. These are large black insects. The length of their body can reach 3 cm. Two-spotted crickets grow faster than crickets of other species. In addition, they are more tolerant of low temperatures. They live in nature in the Mediterranean.
Two-spotted trees are considered more aggressive than banana and house crickets. They can bite strongly, and therefore there have been cases when they injured the reptiles with which they fed them. In addition, almost all types of crickets are cannibals. In the absence of water, a sufficient amount of food or under the wrong conditions for keeping crickets, they actively eat young animals and kill each other. In addition, they are very sensitive to sudden changes in conditions of detention. In the event of a microclimate change, pestilence begins. Crickets often make very loud noises at night. Two-cinnamon crickets are considered one of the loudest species, but because at night their trills can interfere with sleep. That is why many owners of exotic animals prefer to contain less demanding and more tenacious cockroaches as an alternative to crickets.
A photo of two-spotted crickets will be presented below.
However, crickets have their own advantages. Unlike cockroaches, they practically have no unpleasant smell. Many exotic pets eat them with more appetite than cockroaches, which they can refuse at all.
Necessary equipment
To maintain two-spotted crickets, use tall aquariums or plastic containers with smooth walls. The size of the containers should be not less than 60 x 40 cm, height - not less than 30 cm. The container wall is smeared with Vaseline 15 cm from the inside from the top. Crickets are capable of jumping quite high, therefore, if the height of the container is insufficient, it should be covered with a metal mesh on top. Plastic crickets can crack.
When breeding, you may need several containers to keep young and older individuals separately. To avoid fights, egg trays should be placed in the container. So crickets will have a lot of shelters.
At low room temperatures, crickets may need heating. You can equip it with a thermal cord or thermal rug. Bowls for dry and wet food should be in the terrarium. As the soil, you can use a mixture of sand, bran, oatmeal and fish food. Cleaning should be done at least once a week. Heavy pollution can lead to the death of the colony. Crickets need a 16-hour light day. For lighting, you can use incandescent lamps, which will serve as additional heating.
Conditions
Unlike other species, two-spotted crickets need a relatively low air temperature - about 23 degrees. The higher the temperature, the faster the crickets will grow and multiply. However, food consumption in this case will increase.
Humidity in the terrarium should be around 50%. Cricket eggs must be in moist soil, otherwise they will dry out. However, high humidity in a common container can lead to the death of the colony.
Feeding
The diet of crickets should consist of plant and protein foods. Moreover, it is important to give both wet and dry food.
As a wet plant feed, the following may be suitable:
- grated carrots;
- finely chopped fruits and vegetables;
- baby mixes;
- lettuce, dandelion and burdock leaves.
Animal protein is very important in the diet, because when it is deficient, crickets begin to eat each other, females lay unviable eggs, and insect growth slows down. How protein feed can be used:
- dry hamarus and daphnia;
- high-quality food for cats and dogs;
- boiled egg protein;
- boiled chicken without spices.
Dry food can lie in the feeder around the clock. But wet food should be removed after a couple of hours to avoid rotting.
It is also important that crickets consume enough moisture. To do this, you can put a drinker. However, some individuals may drown in it. You can spray one of the walls of the terrarium from the spray gun, but the humidity will increase so much. You can put a cotton pad moistened with water in the terrarium. Or give a fairly large amount of wet food, then you can do without a drinking bowl.
Breeding
Two-spotted crickets reproduce while maintaining optimal conditions for their maintenance. To avoid fights and self-harm, four females should be in a container for one male. In a terrarium with two-spotted crickets, you need to put a small container with a depth of about 4 cm. You need to pour moist soil into it: peat, sand or a coconut substrate. Periodically, the container must be sprayed from the spray gun. The female oviduct is thin. She lays eggs several times smaller than rice grains.
On top of the container, you can put on a small metal mesh to avoid eating eggs. It should be ensured that crickets have a lot of animal protein in the public domain, otherwise they can eat young animals. After laying the eggs, the cage can be rearranged in another container, then cannibalism can not be afraid at all. Once the crickets have reached the desired size, they can be deposited into a common container.
Thus, two-spotted crickets are not particularly easy to maintain and breed, however, they are still very popular among exotic lovers due to their high nutritional qualities. The negative aspects of the content of crickets include cannibalism, sensitivity to the conditions of detention, noise. The positive side is that it is a balanced and healthy food for exotic animals, which has good taste.